Politics - The Important New Criteria for Choosing a Freelancer?

[wlyonsatl]

Today I got a prospective client's response on a proposal I sent. The response included three questions, including this one "...before we proceed":

"2. What is your political affiliation/ views?"

My answer included, "If there is a specific project-related need for you to know, please let me know."

Other responses came to mind first, but there is no reason to wrestle with a pig. It would surely upset the pig, and all I'd get is dirty.

[prestonhunter]

This is a completely valid question for many types of jobs. If I was running for office and wanted to hire somebody to work on my campaign, I would want to know this.

If I was hiring people to work as an opinion writer for a publication, or as a commentator on a political opinion radio show or TV show I would absolutely need to ask questions like this.

So I am libertarian enough to have no problem with this question being asked.

As a client who has hired over 100 freelancers on Upwork, I have never even thought about asking a question like that. Not because I "respect people's privacy" or have some sort of moral compunction against doing so... But because it hasn't been pertinent. In an effort to put myself and my projects forward, I haven't asked questions like that because doing so wouldn't advance my own interests. If the best person to help me install a specialized Linux server library has political affiliation different from my own or lives in a different country or prefers dogs over cats, then it wouldn't make sense for me to not hire that person based on irrelevent factors.

As a freelancer, I have never been asked a question like that. So if I was asked a question like that I would probably be a little surprised. Perhaps amused.

I don't think you would find many doctors who would refuse to treat a person because they had a criminal record, or because they had voted for a member of a specific political party, or because they were from New Jersey. As a database design specialist, I am like a doctor. I believe everybody has a right to high quality database design and SQL commands. So it wouldn't bother me at all to work for a client whose political affiliation or beliefs or favorite sports team or race differs from my own.

I think Will's post poses an interesting question.

Will isn't asking: "What if you found out that a potential client held different political views than your own?"

Inherent in Will's post is the question: "What would you do if a client asked such a question?"

I can't really answer from personal experience because this has never happened to me. It is a valid question. I don't think there is one right answer. Personally, I might just ignore the question.

[wlyonsatl]

Preston,

I don't care if political leanings are part of a client's criteria for selecting a freelancer. I think it's dumb except in the most specific of circumstances, but it's just one more thing to add to the looooong list of the dumb things I have seen clients here do.

But I do mind wasting my time, effort and connects applying to any new project where the client's Upwork ad doesn't provide enough pertinent information in the first place.

[mwiggenhorn]

I once had an interview that explored whether my opinions on sensitive topics would affect my ability to do legal work involving those sensitive topics.  The topics were never delineated.  I must have answered appropriately because I got the job and it lasted a good long while.